The Constitutional Court invited us opine on the tension between freedom of expression and artistic creation, and the right to privacy and the reputation, in the context of artwork that addresses racial discrimination.

“White Porcelain” is a work of art created to reflect on racism in beauty practices and daily family life in Colombia. The author describes various stories from her childhood, based on objects, photographs, and information about her family. Family members filed a tutela to restrict the publication of her work, as they considered it affected their privacy and reputation. Dejusticia requested that the Court permit the exposition of the work, as it encourages public debate regarding invisible racism in Colombia, which is constitutionally protected. Additionally, although the work includes information regarding third-parties, it is in the form of autobiography and opinion. The information it uses is not false, and was not obtained via harassment, nor contains restricted information. It does not criticize the author’s family members, but rather interprets their statements in order to criticize veiled racism. Thus, open democratic debate regarding racism should outweigh their rights.